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Misha Japaridze / AP, file
Russia is going to try lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in jail after being accused of fraud. Magnitsky said Russian officials and organized crime member conspired to frame him, and a report by Russia's presidential human rights council found in July 2011 that Magnitsky had been repeatedly beaten and deliberately denied medical treatment while in jail.
MOSCOW -- Russia is preparing to put lawyer Sergei Magnitsky on trial, even though he died in 2009, in the latest twist in a case that has become a byword for Russian corruption and has severely strained U.S.-Russian relations.
The posthumous trial has already provoked outrage among rights groups who see the whistle-blower's case as indicative of the rampant judicial abuse, skyrocketing graft and blurred boundaries between the state and organized crime that have plagued Russia under President Vladimir Putin.
"The trial of a deceased person and the forcible involvement of his relatives is a dangerous precedent that would open a whole new chapter in Russia's worsening human rights record," Amnesty International said in a statement last week.
Prosecutors accuse Magnitsky and his former client, London-based investor William Browder, of a $230 million tax fraud carried out through subsidiaries of Browder's company, Hermitage Capital Management.
Magnitsky claimed in 2008 that the fraud was committed by an organized crime group who colluded with the corrupt Interior Ministry to register themselves as the owners of three Hermitage subsidiaries and then claim a $230 million tax rebate. He was arrested shortly after by the same officials and accused of stealing the money himself.
Abused in prison
A year later, the 37-year-old Magnitsky died in jail of pancreatitis, after what supporters claim was a systematic torture campaign. A report by Russia's presidential human rights council found in July 2011 that Magnitsky had been repeatedly beaten and deliberately denied medical treatment.
"If they have the same investigators and judges try the case, then what are they going to say — 'we're guilty and we should be punished?' It's obvious what's going to happen," Magnitsky's mother, Nataliya Magnitskaya, told The Associated Press last week.
Russia's top court ruled shortly after Magnitsky's death that posthumous trials were allowed, with the intention of allowing relatives to clear their loved ones' names. Though neither Magnitsky's relatives nor Browder say they asked for charges to be refiled, prosecutors reopened his case just days after the ruling.
A Moscow court on Monday set preliminary hearings in the case for Feb. 18. Browder is being tried in absentia; he has not been to Russia since he was banned from entering the country in 2005.
Evidence collected by Browder on a website, Russian Untouchables, indicates that the officials accused by Magnitsky became substantially wealthier after the tax rebate, spending vastly in excess of their meager official salaries on international travel, luxury cars, and prime real estate in Dubai.
Officials in Switzerland, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are attempting to trace portions of the $230 million rebate to banks in those countries.
Last December, tensions between the U.S. and Russia flared when Congress passed a law named after Magnitsky sanctioning officials Browder accuses of involvement in the fraud.
Putin at that time said that Magnitsky died of a heart attack and accused Browder of politicizing his death to distract from his own crimes.
Russia responded to the U.S. law by banning adoptions of Russian children by Americans and dropping charges against a prison doctor on trial for negligence in Magnitsky's death.
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Leave a Comment:
"We find the defendent GUILTY, and sentence him to life in-what? He's what? Oh. OH. Well, now you're just wasting my time, aren't you?"
Really, Russia? A corrupt show trial for someone who's already died in custody? Why don't you just go all the way and try his family for his crimes? Toss in any pets he has; send a few puppies to the firing squad. Boil his goldfish alive. You may as well go full cartoon-villain at this point; you're already straddling the moral event horizon.
You don't get it, by finding him guilty they are free. No one will be albe to say someone else committed the crime because someone has already been tried and convicted.
That's completely irrelevant. The Russian state jails whoever it wants. By all indications, Magnitsky never committed any crime, so the authorities simply pinned theirs on him. A crime to jail someone with can be manufactured with the same ease as an arrest warrant in Russia.
If a dead man gets life in prison does the state dig the body up and transfer it to a prison?
I thought tax collectors were the only ones allowed to screw you after you have died.
quite possibly, this trial is for internal consumption only
No one outside of Russia is buying this. Putting a dead man on trial shows that Russia has no shame and will do anything that it wants and it really does not care what other people think. Very heavy-handed stuff.
wow, amazing
But sooner or later, something that they do will backfire, and will make people demand change. Maybe this will be it. maybe not :-)
You got to realize that he, (the guy's own trial's lawyer) can plead the 5th. Amendment even though he is in Russia, and if he should be found 'Guilty', they could always 'Appeal' that Decision.
His being 'Declared Legally Dead', does not by itself absolve him from being also, (if so found) Guilty of the 'Charged Crime'.
And he can't pay his 'Legal Fees' sue him for that as well!!
Nutt'n new here!!!!
Well, in many places, it would. How can a dead man defend himself?
The fact that the gov't would charge and try a dead man shows that this case is bugging the hell out of the government. And they need to get some closure. This trial is not about Sergey Magnitsky. It is about the Russian govt.
Everyone should understand this. There will never ever be a true democracy in Russia. No matter what kind of system they will have. Russian are simply not capable of such thing. There will always be corruption and exploitation. The entire society has the mentality of 3rd world countries. They had a small chance when Gorbachev was in power. He was one of the very rare people who were not corrupted. And what did the Russians do? they've voted in Yeltsin, the alcoholic. So this is what it is, and always will be this way.
Just like this country we won't help each other. We have shown the type of people we are last year when a group tried to stand up against Wall Street. We have too many cowards.
Many of us didn't help the Occupiers because we thought they were wrong, not because we're cowards. Don't think so highly of your own opinions and conclusions that you assume everyone else thinks the same way and just don't want to say so.
Beadarg, I see no reason why Russians should be "incapable" of true democracy. They have the institutions, but they're all rotten with the leftover cronies from the Soviet era. As more Russians are becoming wealthier and better educated, they're standing up more often in protest to the rotten system that oversees the country. I have no idea if things are going to get better before they get worse, but they certainly seem "capable" of democracy to me.
beadarg -- I had a minor in Russian history in college and I couldn't agree more. In this case, it would behoove us to keep our noses out of the fray. They'll work it out.
I can see someone in the house or senate saying: "Not a bad idea"
And democrats praise communism as a great way to run a country.
Nobody cares that Obama's personal wealth is up 800% since he took office.
Nobody cares that he is keeping his campaign alive, it's sole function is to worship Obama and raise money for extra-governmental works on behalf of Obama.
Nobody cares that senators gained 70% increases in their personal wealth during the recession or congressmen gained 15%.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/capitol-assets/congressional-wealth-risk-matrix/
http://www.rollcall.com/50richest/the-50-richest-members-of-congress-112th.html
http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/02/what-does-it-say-when-members-of-congress-got-25-richer-during-the-height-of-the-recession/
Socialist/communist values might not be good for you,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but they are great for those in the political elite.
I've never heard of any US politician praising Communism as a great way to run a country. Link?
Elected politicians get nothing from expanded government programs (i.e., socialism - there really hasn't been a true communist economy). Appointed bureaucrats do, almost certainly, but the elected have to vote to give themselves raises. Elected officials get their monies from corrupt awarding of contracts to private enterprise (capitalism), the bidding of which can be easily rigged. Also from non-governmental activist organizations, which can now raise unlimited amounts of money from private (capitalist) people and organizations.
Truthfully, both Democrats and Rebuplicans have benefitted from the latter form of corruption. But to say that Democrats espouse communism as a means to corruption is an outright lie.
Awarding government contracts to private enterprises is not capitalism. The money funding those programs is tax money, which is taken from the populace using the coercive power/authority of the state, and the person making the decisions involved are elected for their political appeal rather than appointed/hired for their competence. It has very little to do with the basic principles of capitalism, and the rigged auction is a blatant corruption of basic free-market concepts that would otherwise promote efficiency and quality of products/services.
The NGO thing isn't exactly capitalism either, since NGOs generally aren't concerned with the accumulation of profits and efficient distribution of resources (capital), but it's closer than contract auctions.
Finally, elected politicians may indirectly benefit from expanded government programs by ingratiating themselves with voters and winning new terms at the expense of sound fiscal or economic policy. We call this populism.
Vladimir Putin is a communist and he runs Russia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin
http://www.wnd.com/2012/11/communist-party-usa-celebrates-obama-win/
Communist party celebrates Obama win.
http://www.myfreedompost.com/2012/10/obama-praises-fellow-communist-cesar.html
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/189004/obama-science-czar-quotes-mao-population-control/mark-hemingway#
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Jones
Another Obama Czar who is a open communist since 1992.
http://www.examiner.com/article/obama-job-council-chairman-jeffrey-immelt-state-run-communism-works-china
Obama jobs council praises communism
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/08/obamas_strange_dependence_on_valerie_jarrett.html
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/08/03/all-in-the-political-family
Obama's closest "advisor" is a second generation communist
It is probably just a fluke that so many "democrats" are actually hard left communists and socialists with a second or third generation of hate for America in their roots.
And so many of them seem to work for Obama,,,,,,,,strange?
I'm sure the 5557 new government regulations posted in the last 90 days are there to "aid" capitalism.
The Dept of Energy using yahoo email to hide dealings with left wing environmential groups is a fluke.
The loans to "bundlers" for billions, ala Solyndra are just a "strange happening".
The inability to relate a terrorist attack on 9/11 with the terrorist attack on 9/11/01 was just a misunderstanding,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hillary says so.
The .43 cents of every dollar squandered is borrowed,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,must be Bush's fault.
We can also ignore the fact that fists killed THREE times more people than "assault rifles" in 2011,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,cause we need to ban guns.
You cannot have 10 rounds in New york,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,why can you have 10 fingers? If we limited people to seven fingers, maybe murders would drop?
Nobodys praising communism. By the way the story details a episode of fascism not socialism.
And I thought the US judicial system was fooked!! LOL
Maybe the guy can make a plea deal for being less dead.
Well the United States cannot say anything about the Russian Judicial System. The United States has exonerated innocent civilians from its death row and possibly executed innocent civilians.
Every system that practices capital punishment (including Russia) has possibly executed innocent civilians (I'll bet they haven't exonerated as many people, though). Although you obviously disagree with it, that's a risk inherent in the system. That's on a completely different level than deliberately convicting innocent civilians. Moreso to convict whistleblowers fighting corruption.
So, yes, actually we CAN say something about the Russian judicial system.
If former governor Barbour was the sitting judge, this guy would have received a pardon.
No surprise here! The Tsars are still in power, by different names, and a bit more behind the scenes. Putin has the power as long as he lacates the real power brokers, who are like the Mafia. So, the caveat is: Watch out in dealing in Russia! Period!
They should have done that with Casey Anthony.
"...skyrocketing graft and blurred boundaries between the state and organized crime that have plagued Russia under President Vladimir Putin." is technically incorrect. Russian state IS organized crime under President Vladimir Putin....
God help us now - this will give every crook in America something to try. They are going to get you and everything you own one way or another.
Waste of tax payer dollars.
"...the rampant judicial abuse, skyrocketing graft and blurred boundaries between the state and organized crime that have plagued Russia under President Vladimir Putin." - is technically imprecise. The Russian state IS organized crime under President Vladimir Putin...
@ LelikBolik = THIS! Russia and Russias have always been a puzzle. Educated, scientifically capable, good chess players, ballet, music, novels of reknown...............and a lot of the most institutionalized violent corrupt craziness. I think what they consider "normal" vs "criminal" is a lot different than ours. What we would consider highly criminal graft etc. etc. etc. is not by them, which makes them dangerous
Funny, I can post about nasty Russia, but not on the story NBC is running about immigration reform???? Hmmmmmm Gubmint influence to the Obama channel.....Naw, never...................
Yeah. It is a bit strange and more than coincidence I think that some stories are open for comment and some are not. Not sure what-up with that really. It has been happening more and more.
Maybe your tinfoil hats just fit funny?
Russia and the US are incredibly different.
Russia saw so much death and destruction between 1914 and 1991 that is is amazing that the country still exists.
Taking down Hitler was no picnic (14% of the Russian population died to do it), and the totalitarian nature of War Communism left a lot to be desired.
In any event, the Democrats should take notes so they can launch a full blown witch hunt in 2014. All of the companies and individuals who profited from the "Lost Wars" (1946 to 2012) should be put on trial; dead or alive.
Didn't the Nazi's try people posthumously? If found guilty, weren't the families responsible to pay all or some of the sentence?
Putin is KGB, what do you expect Russia to be like today under his iron fist.
Well Vlad this is why no one takes your country seriously any more.
And when the far right speaks of the Soviet Union they bring up the awful word socialism. Folks fascism is much worse. Organized crime has a damaging effect on the economy and the middle class. Look at Cuba prior to the Castro regime it was just as fascist as the Soviet Union is now. Im sure Putin calls his pals in the mob job creators just like Mitt Romney.
Uh... the current Cuban administration is similarly fascist and authoritarian, too. And the Soviet Union isn't "fascist" now because it doesn't exist. Did you mean Russia?
The best way to fight this is to join them: put Stalin a on trial for his crimes and the communist party too. Use the dead officials as proxy for the whole thing.
Such a move would put a stop to prosecuting the dead. One could think of ways to do this over and over again.
On less the Court comes out in favor of eternal life-which might please a lot of theologians.
WOW, it has gotten really very bad in Russia. I cannot say similar things do not happen in America. Just not publicly known.
What else would you expect when politicians get in bed with the people that have all the money? We call it organized crime in Russia, while we call it super PACs and lobbyists in this country.
No, in Russia they call it government.
Putin means shabby hooker in spanish. maybe mr putin has done the same for his country
after doing this, can those involved be institutionalized for insanity?
russia needs to declare war on organized crime, kill them everywhere. instead they are joining it. they murdered this man and now prove that they are even more unstable than we even believed.